Mt. Rushmore July-August 2017

Our Road Trip to Mt. Rushmore and Badlands National Park South Dakota July 17, 2017 to August 15, 2017   We traveled nearly 5,000 miles and saw and experienced so many wonderful and exciting things. We had always wanted to visit Mt. Rushmore and 2017 was the year we would scratch this off our bucket list.  Some of the places we visited were: Great Basin National Park The Heber Creeper Railroad in Heber City, Utah Cheyenne, Wyoming Mt. Rushmore The Badlands National Park Yankton, S.D. The Golden Spike Tower & Bailey Yard in North Platte, Nebraska Making our way through Great Basin National Park Hiking the Sac Pass Trail Sunset at Sac Pass Campground Heber City, UT. to ride the Heber Valley Railroad The Ames Monument atop Sherman Hill west of Cheyenne, WY. The largest Steam Locomotive ever built. Union Pacific's 4-8-8-4 Big Boy #4004! We made it! No words can even come close to describing a visit to Mt. Rushmore. You must see it to believe it. Next up, Crazy Horse! Arlene and Me at Crazy Horse Eye of the Needle Pinnacle along the Needles Highway outside Custer City, S.D. Also seen along the Needles Highway  Mt. Rushmore at night. What an experience! Crazy Horse at night. Another awesome experience! Going to ride the Black Hills Central Railroad from Hill City, SD. to Keystone, SD.  That's Me with the Black Hills Central  Railroad in the background Arlenie waiting for the Train Devil's Tower, in Person! Click on the Picture to enlarge and to read about Devil's Tower Next stop? The Badlands of South Dakota National Park! Arlene at the Badlands Just North of the Badlands on the I-90 Interstate is Wall, South Dakota and the World Famous (Literally!) Wall Drugs. You can read more about Wall Drugs History HERE.  When we visited The Badlands, Wall Drugs was an easy 20 mile drive from the park so everyday, we would be sure to have lunch or dinner here. Why? Wall Drugs is so much more than a Drug Store. I mean, this place is EMINENCE! There's a Restaurant (Two in fact), Book Store, Clothing Store, and if you ever go, be sure to go out onto the Patio where there's even more to see and do.  Wall Drugs makes delicious Meals like Roast Beef and mashed potatoes with gravy (SO GOOD!), delicious sandwiches and Homemade Doughnuts, Ice Cream and Pies that are out of this World GOOD!! This is a great place for the Kids as there is SO much to see and do here. I won't tell you anymore cuz I don't want to spoil the adventure for you but if your ever out this way, Wall Drug is located on the I-90 Interstate exit 110. ENJOY!! Just North of the Badlands is Wall Drugs  Imported from the Colorado Rockies, These Mountain Rams are right at home in the Badlands Distant Storm Clouds over the Badlands If you Love seeing wild life, be sure to take the drive along Sage Creek Road inside the Park where you are sure to see plenty of Bison, Mountain Rams, Prairie Dogs and so much more in such a Beautiful setting. You'll be amazed! There are 1500 Buffalo in the Park You would know if you ever saw these in person that they are such a Majestic Animal The Badlands as seen from the Hay Butte Overlook Yellow Mounds Overlook along Sage Creek Road Near Ancient Hunter's Overlook Prairie Homestead south of Wall, SD. A Baby Goat Befriends Arlene These Sunflowers are plentiful along the White River Road Another AWESOME South Dakota Sunset near Interior, SD. The White River as seen from the White River Road Arlene and I at Ancient Hunter's Overlook  Dances with Wolves Arlene Near Contata Basin Road Then it was time to head East to visit a Friend, Janie Kopecky in Yankton, SD. Janie was such a gracious Host who took us for a wonderful dinner along the Missouri River, Sioux Falls S.D., great Mexican food in a small South Dakota Town and even a working Farm outside Yankton. Thank You Janie for a most enjoyable stay. We will be back for sure! Dinner along the Old Muddy Sioux Falls, SD. And then Janie says, after our visit to the Falls in Sioux Falls "I know what Rusty would like to see!". It's Great having so many Super Train Buddies! These pics were taken at a small BNSF Yard in Sioux Falls, SD. The last two pics are of a snowplow used to clear the snow from the tracks in and around Sioux Falls. At Janie's Cousin's Farm outside Yankton, SD. What an experience! Foxy and Pa Truckee at Janie's That's Janie, Arlene and Me The old C&NW Bridge over the Niobrara River near Valentine, NE. (This was the C&NW's Cowboy Line) We Get to Valentine, Nebraska at a beautiful RV park and I think I should check the tires on our coach. We had purchased these tires new in September of 2016 so I'm thinking they should be OK, right? Boy, was I ever in for a surprise when I saw that the inside of both the rear tires had worn clean down to the steel belt! We were 360 miles from the nearest America's Tire store Cheyenne, WY. What to do. We had originally thought we might head for Colorado to see some Friends in Pagosa Springs, CO. but now we thought it better to start heading Home with a stop in Cheyenne, WY. to get a couple new tires to get us Home.  What you see in the following pictures is an indication that the rear axle on our coach had lost it's pre-stress. By this I mean, if you look at a healthy axle it will have a bend or bow in it so when you load your trailer, the camber in the tire levels out and the tires ride level with the pavement. In our case, the axle in question having lost it's pre-stress, was causing the tires to ride with the inside of the tires being the only thing touching the pavement! YIKES!  Fast forward to the present and $800.00 later, this axle has been replaced.  So, since it was on our way and it being something we had planned on seeing anyhow, a stop at the Golden Spike Tower in North Platte, NE. was in order. At 8 miles long and 2 miles wide, it is the World's largest classification Yard and as they say in these parts, there are so many Trains, you can't keep track! Arrived at The Golden Spike Tower in North Platte, Nebraska A Panorama View of Bailey Yard                    Video of Union Pacific's Bailey Yard The Bailey Yard Low-Down So, on our way Home, we decided to spend a couple days at Great Basin National Park for the Perseid Meteor Shower that takes place every Year in August. Great Basin's night sky's we have been told, are the darkest in the Nation and are today what they were when Christ was alive. So what better place to watch Natures show than at Great Basin I ask? We saw over 25 meteors or falling starts if you will the first night and some awesome sunrises and sunsets.   Our next stop after Great Basin was to be Ely, Nevada for a ride on the Nevada Northern Railroad behind Steam Engine #40. This was a lot of fun as the Train got robbed at the end of the line and I got my head cut off! Thus concludes our trip to Mt. Rushmore. I hope you enjoyed going with us via our Blog. It's always fun for us to be able to share with you our adventures. So stay tuned for more of Distant Adventures Await and Thanks for stopping by!